The following is Publisher Larry Tobin's Ups-N-Downs Column for June 19, 2007:

Want to find out some facts about the global warming issue? Just go to www.aconvenientfiction.com. While I know it sounds like it might be a slam on Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” it isn’t really. It provides a lot of fact and fiction on both sides of the issue, unlike Gore’s movie, which only provides one very unbalanced and unscientific side.

Because I note a lot of the exaggerations of the global warming issue, I’m sure a lot of people think I don’t believe any of it. I will not argue the fact that the earth has warmed slightly. But a one degree increase in the average temperature over 100 years is not the alarming or pending tragedy that the extremists want us to believe. Plus, that single degree is a worldwide average. It varies from place to place on the planet.

There was, you may recall, a greater warming period, known to science, during the Middle Ages. That was followed (also known to science) by a mini-ice age. There have been climatic changes throughout the history of the planet.

What is irritating about Gore and other global warming extremists is that they distort science and grossly exaggerate the risks. And, to listen to them, anyone who disagrees with them is corrupt and evil. If you’ll notice the diatribes, these folks claim the debate is closed, but most of those people are notably not scientists. They are politicians and members of the major media.

I’ve heard these people claim that the Polar Ice Caps are melting and that the rising oceans will flood New York City under 20 feet of water. Yet, when you see the response of scientists, even those who agree with the likelihood of man-caused global warming, they note that if every cube of ice in the world melted, it would only add 16-17 inches of water to the oceans. Not exactly major flooding to be reckoned with.

Why is Gore such an alarmist? I believe it’s a power thing.

If you watch his movie or read his book, you’ll find that he offers no solutions. Indeed, he won’t even add earth-friendly features to his 20-room, energy-gulping mansion.

No, what Gore is about is “changing attitudes.” Attitudes have to be changed before the American people will accept more government intervention and intrusion into their lives. But attitudes won’t change without crisis stimulation. It’s the old “ an asteroid is about to hit the earth” theory. Without impending doom, people will not allow government to expand its powers in ways clearly contrary to the Constitution. That’s why he wants to change attitudes toward government as much as he wants to preach about the environment.

Somebody called global warming “the moral equivalent of war.” That’s what Gore is banking on to give politicians the power to take over in ways they could never do without a crisis.

“Government will save us all if you let it!”

So far, very few of us believe that. You’ve probably all stood in line at the Department of Transportation licensing office. Is that how you want every other aspect of your life run as well? I don’t think so.

But that’s what the great liberal defenders of the little guy would have us endure. “Let government save you!”

This whole thing is little about saving the planet in the long run. It’s about changing the attitudes of the American people in ways that would allow government to invade their lives beyond imagination. In order for the ultra-liberal extremists to do that, however, they need a crisis – real or improvised.